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Feb 1, 2013
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assume that he gets confirmed, he has to be a tough -- a tough guy at the pentagon. he is going to be tough with congress. he has to deal with the potential of the sequester, fighting for the budget that he does get, dealing with all of the problems that come at you when you are in charge of the pentagon and the generals and the other members of the joint chiefs are going to feel they can run over him. >> we'll see about that. i assume that every general with any number of stars was watching intently yesterday, and might have had that thought in mind. you said another important word, which is sequester. it's going to be a huge mess over there trying to, first, anticipate this, and then deal with whatever the new reality is. i do think that it was ugly yesterday. it was ugly on both sides. the white house wasn't so much from what i heard defending his performance as saying that those mean republicans also performed in an ugly and bad and not very attractive way. i don't think anybody looked particularly good in that showdown. i also think it's very clear that this is,
assume that he gets confirmed, he has to be a tough -- a tough guy at the pentagon. he is going to be tough with congress. he has to deal with the potential of the sequester, fighting for the budget that he does get, dealing with all of the problems that come at you when you are in charge of the pentagon and the generals and the other members of the joint chiefs are going to feel they can run over him. >> we'll see about that. i assume that every general with any number of stars was...
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Feb 8, 2013
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the pentagon is taking the brunt of these cuts. certainly the commander in chief doesn't want that to happen. a ton of democrats are quite fine with seeing pentagon spending cuts. so, you know, it's sort of like nobody really wants it to happen but both sides are sort of okay with it. >> to the point of who might have the upper hand, charles krauthammer wrote this. obama's bluff is being called and he's the desperate water. what should they do? nothing. cheryl, there are others who are saying that if this happens, at least we get those cuts. what's the feeling on capitol hill right now? >> well, i think there are some republicans who are fairly public about the fact that they do not want to see the seek questions sister cuts go through. a lot of these republicans represent the heavy military presence, a the lo lot of defen contractors in their area. generally ryan is right, they don't want to see the cuts go through but they are kind of preparing for it, that this is going to happen. they view the president's offer for tax increase
the pentagon is taking the brunt of these cuts. certainly the commander in chief doesn't want that to happen. a ton of democrats are quite fine with seeing pentagon spending cuts. so, you know, it's sort of like nobody really wants it to happen but both sides are sort of okay with it. >> to the point of who might have the upper hand, charles krauthammer wrote this. obama's bluff is being called and he's the desperate water. what should they do? nothing. cheryl, there are others who are...
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Feb 22, 2013
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it could mean longer lines at the airport, less funding for teachers, and cuts at the pentagon that officials say could hurt national security. still, the white house and republicans remained lock in a stalemate over how to deal with the sequester. yesterday, president obama called john boehner and mitchell mcconnell, but neither republican leader has any appetite for new taxes, something the president says should be part of the deal. the president spoke with reverend al sharpton yesterday. >> my sense is that their basic view is that nothing is important enough to raise taxes on wealthy individuals or corporations, and they would prefer to see these kinds of cuts that could slow down our recovery over closing tax loophol loopholes. and that's the thing that binds their party together at this point. this is a major argument, obviously, we've been having for the last three years. unfortunately, i think republicans right now have been so dug in on this notion of never raising taxes that it becomes difficult for them to see an obvious answer right in front of them. >> of course, you have to take
it could mean longer lines at the airport, less funding for teachers, and cuts at the pentagon that officials say could hurt national security. still, the white house and republicans remained lock in a stalemate over how to deal with the sequester. yesterday, president obama called john boehner and mitchell mcconnell, but neither republican leader has any appetite for new taxes, something the president says should be part of the deal. the president spoke with reverend al sharpton yesterday....
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Feb 9, 2013
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pentagon hasn't had any significant cuts for 30 years. a lot of money that's going to be cut is money that was not asked for but the pentagon was put in by bloated congress people who wanted to do stuff for people in their district. i'm a fairly hawkish on defense, but this is an enterprise that hasn't been touched for 30 years and this may be our only chance. >> that's interesting sort of where the two sides come together, which is to say members of the progressive left think this is the only time we're going to get these defense cuts and deficit hawks, conservatives, tea partiers are putting moderate republicans in a bind saying this is cutting our deficit. let's go for it. >> the grand irony, of course, is the fact that the number -- if you poll people their number one issue is jobs, right? it continues to be jobs. and $120 billion austerity crunch, the numbers being bantered around, in exchange for the sequester, which is like $85 billion. whatever it is, right, that's a big chunk. that will have an effect, negative jobs effect, no qu
pentagon hasn't had any significant cuts for 30 years. a lot of money that's going to be cut is money that was not asked for but the pentagon was put in by bloated congress people who wanted to do stuff for people in their district. i'm a fairly hawkish on defense, but this is an enterprise that hasn't been touched for 30 years and this may be our only chance. >> that's interesting sort of where the two sides come together, which is to say members of the progressive left think this is the...
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Feb 7, 2013
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the pentagon says it will reduce the naval presence in the persian gulf. plans for the uss harry truman carrier to head to the gulf this week have been canceled. that would leave one carrier in the region. defense secretary leon panetta warns under the cuts pentagon workers could face furloughs saying, this is not a game this is reality. >>> vice president joe biden made an emotional appeal to house democrats last night urging them to support the obama administration's gun control agenda. biden choked up while speaking about the recent tragedy at sandy hook and recounted examples of 1600 deaths since that day. his tone turned emphatic reminding audience as their obligation as lawmakers to act. >> when people tell me that you can't prevent these kinds of occurrences, that doesn't mean we can't do something to god forbid if it happens again diminish the carnage. it matters. it matters. >> speaking to those worried about the political consequences of backing controversial gun legislation, biden argued "i promise you, times have changed." >>> new jersey govern
the pentagon says it will reduce the naval presence in the persian gulf. plans for the uss harry truman carrier to head to the gulf this week have been canceled. that would leave one carrier in the region. defense secretary leon panetta warns under the cuts pentagon workers could face furloughs saying, this is not a game this is reality. >>> vice president joe biden made an emotional appeal to house democrats last night urging them to support the obama administration's gun control...
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Feb 1, 2013
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and you know i'm qualified for this job to be the head of the pentagon, defense secretary. it was almost like he was stunned by it. your thoughts. >> i think you're right. i think it was very personal. i was stunned by it, too. especially the way mccain kept pursuing it and pursuing it. clearly, john wanted chuck to say yes, i was wrong and you were right. and of course the verdict of history, as hagel tried to say, is still out on that. and frankly, in my view as a soldier, the surge had almost nothing to do with the actual increase in american troops. what it had to do was the coincidence of a number of things that were already moving in iraq. not least of which was the awakening. and it had to do with very frankly a general by the name of david petraeus taking advantage of this in order to enhance his own reputation. and as far as i'm concerned, the increase in troops had nothing to do with the change in the situation in iraq except that it got a bunch of them killed, as senator hagel was careful to point out. >> and that is paralleling his opening comments, which you ta
and you know i'm qualified for this job to be the head of the pentagon, defense secretary. it was almost like he was stunned by it. your thoughts. >> i think you're right. i think it was very personal. i was stunned by it, too. especially the way mccain kept pursuing it and pursuing it. clearly, john wanted chuck to say yes, i was wrong and you were right. and of course the verdict of history, as hagel tried to say, is still out on that. and frankly, in my view as a soldier, the surge had...
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Feb 26, 2013
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hagel, meanwhile, already working out of the pentagon for weeks preparing for the transition and first battle will be a budget war. the dod is faced with cuts even in the next seven months alone of $43 billion. cuts to training, grounded planes, docked warships. all things the president referred to today at a shipyard. >> main reason i'm here is to call attention to the important work you're doing on behalf of the nation's defense and to let the american people know that this work along with hundreds of thousands of jobs are currently in jeopardy because of politics in washington. these cuts are wrong. they're not smart. they're not fair. >> michael hersh is chief correspondent at "the national journal." so let's start there. there's this notion that if he's confirmed and i think we all expect that he will be that he'll enter defense in some kind of a weakened position after not so great confirmation hearing and then this really okay ro moan you battle over the confirmation. what kind of tangible consequences will that have? how will the job as defense secretary be more difficult becau
hagel, meanwhile, already working out of the pentagon for weeks preparing for the transition and first battle will be a budget war. the dod is faced with cuts even in the next seven months alone of $43 billion. cuts to training, grounded planes, docked warships. all things the president referred to today at a shipyard. >> main reason i'm here is to call attention to the important work you're doing on behalf of the nation's defense and to let the american people know that this work along...
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Feb 8, 2013
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the plan had received support from the pentagon, the cia, secretary clinton. but ultimately it was the white house that turned down the idea. >> both of you agreed with petraeus and clinton that we should start looking at military assistance in syria, is that correct? >> that was our position. i do want to say, senator, that obviously there were a number of factors that were reversed here that ultimately led to the president's decision to make it nonlethal. i supported his decision in the end. but the answer to your question is yes. >> for both of you? >> yes. >> "the wall street journal" says the white house was concerned about which rebels could be trusted with arms. was also worried about the risk of drawing the united states into another military conflict. but it was questions over benghazi that led to the most heated moments with secretary panetta and general dempsey defending the administration's response to the deadly raid on the u.s. consulate. >> for you to testify that our posture would not allow a rapid response, our posture was not there because we
the plan had received support from the pentagon, the cia, secretary clinton. but ultimately it was the white house that turned down the idea. >> both of you agreed with petraeus and clinton that we should start looking at military assistance in syria, is that correct? >> that was our position. i do want to say, senator, that obviously there were a number of factors that were reversed here that ultimately led to the president's decision to make it nonlethal. i supported his decision...
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he had practiced at the pentagon. he had been working on this. but when he referred to containment on iran rather than prevention of nuclear weapons and had to be corrected and then corrected again, a note was passed to him, and then the chairman helpfully said to him, containment is not a policy at all. that is not our policy. that is such a critical mistake on an issue that he knew that he was going to be asked about. we knew that he was going to have to explain the, quote, jewish lobby and take that back and some of the other things. the way he did it didn't seem crisp. and then when ted cruz wheeled in the tv screen to play an al jazeera talk show and put him on the spot or how he defended israel or didn't defend israel in response to a question on a talk show, it would be like somebody saying to you or mika, joe, you were on c-span ten years ago, and what did you say to someone who called in? that was very, very tough. >> that was sort of my point at the top. >> it's interesting that you had said, mika, yesterday as we were going to a meetin
he had practiced at the pentagon. he had been working on this. but when he referred to containment on iran rather than prevention of nuclear weapons and had to be corrected and then corrected again, a note was passed to him, and then the chairman helpfully said to him, containment is not a policy at all. that is not our policy. that is such a critical mistake on an issue that he knew that he was going to be asked about. we knew that he was going to have to explain the, quote, jewish lobby and...
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Feb 11, 2013
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second rate as some republican senators keep maneuver to stall the nomination of chuck hagel for the pentagon. those stories straight ahead. >>> first, let's begin with rap, rock, r and b and pop all colliding for the 55th annual grammy awards. a good night for veterans like adele and jay-z. the evening began for the new artists, fun, gotyea and black keys. they got the coveted album of the year. juxtapositional star appearance, honoring bob marley and lee von helms. potential wardrobe malfunctions. the producers put out a memo and told them to avoid see through clothing and song type costumes. we'll show you which stars got the memo and which ones did not in the cooler. >>> in other news, president obama will deliver his state of the union tomorrow night. he's expected to push for more investment in infrastructure and clean energy. he'll zero in on the issue of the middle class advocating for what he described last week as a, quote, economy that works for everybody. tomorrow's speech is also going to focus on immigration, climate change and gun violence. big themes from the president's inaug
second rate as some republican senators keep maneuver to stall the nomination of chuck hagel for the pentagon. those stories straight ahead. >>> first, let's begin with rap, rock, r and b and pop all colliding for the 55th annual grammy awards. a good night for veterans like adele and jay-z. the evening began for the new artists, fun, gotyea and black keys. they got the coveted album of the year. juxtapositional star appearance, honoring bob marley and lee von helms. potential wardrobe...
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Feb 12, 2013
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. >> those benefits, the pentagon no matter how much they want to, they can't do those things. >> right. >> because they are precluded by law because of doma. >> and secretary panetta and the president, they did all they could under the law. and that's what a lot of people don't understand. here is another story charlie told me. she said when she was doing her live interview, she also went to see her then congressman from new hampshire. and she told her story. and the congressman said oh, but you're okay. you live in new hampshire. you're legally married in new hampshire. that's legal. so you're taken care of. so her congressman didn't even know that her wife was treated as a second class citizen and didn't enjoy the benefits that other military families enjoyed. so if the congressman didn't know, you know, the american public has no idea. so we need to continue telling charlie's story. >> the reason that i wanted to play that particular clip of her lobbying gene shaheen there, gene shaheen obviously somebody who has been very supportive of her. but you see when she tells gene shaheen h
. >> those benefits, the pentagon no matter how much they want to, they can't do those things. >> right. >> because they are precluded by law because of doma. >> and secretary panetta and the president, they did all they could under the law. and that's what a lot of people don't understand. here is another story charlie told me. she said when she was doing her live interview, she also went to see her then congressman from new hampshire. and she told her story. and the...
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Feb 8, 2013
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while being grilled by the senate armed services committee, had any onpanetta strongly defended the pentagon's response to the benghazi attack that left ambassador chris stevens and three other americans dead. panetta told lawmakers there just wasn't enough time to get u.s. forces or attack aircraft to the scene. >>> today president obama will speak at a military farewell service for panetta. >>> michelle obama plans to travel to chicago to attend tomorrow's funeral for 15-year-old hidea pendleton, an honor student and band major ret who participated in the inauguration festivities about a week before her death. hidea was the victim of random gun violence last week, fatally shot about a mile from the obamas' chicago-area home. no arrests have been made. >>> the big story of the day, that potentially historic blizzard bearing down on the northeast. if weather channel meteorologist jim cantore shows up in your town, that's got to be bad news. jim is live in boston for us this morning. what's the latest there? >> just to let you know how bad i think this one's going to be, i brought a yardstick.
while being grilled by the senate armed services committee, had any onpanetta strongly defended the pentagon's response to the benghazi attack that left ambassador chris stevens and three other americans dead. panetta told lawmakers there just wasn't enough time to get u.s. forces or attack aircraft to the scene. >>> today president obama will speak at a military farewell service for panetta. >>> michelle obama plans to travel to chicago to attend tomorrow's funeral for...
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Feb 18, 2013
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. >>> president obama's nominee to run the pentagon will have to wait at least another week for an up or down vote in the senate. but it now appears chuck hagel will get that vote when senators return. at least two top republicans say they will stop efforts to stall his confirmation. that filibuster came a day after hagel was approved by the armed services by a party-line vote. one of his most vocal opponents says while he doesn't believe hagel is qualified, he won't hold up the process. >> i thought we had an agreement to wait a week so the remaining questions would be answered, but i understand the white house wanted a vote. they got a vote. we will have a vote when we get back. i'm confident that senator hagel will probably have the votes necessary to be confirmed as the secretary of defense. >> the gop it says blocked hagel's nomination in an effort to further examine his record and views on israel and iran. senate majority leader harry reid hopes to bring a final vote to the floor when congress goes back in session next monday. >>> residents in coastal new england are cleaning up
. >>> president obama's nominee to run the pentagon will have to wait at least another week for an up or down vote in the senate. but it now appears chuck hagel will get that vote when senators return. at least two top republicans say they will stop efforts to stall his confirmation. that filibuster came a day after hagel was approved by the armed services by a party-line vote. one of his most vocal opponents says while he doesn't believe hagel is qualified, he won't hold up the...
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Feb 4, 2013
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want to start with a washington battle on full display this week when the president's pick to head the pentagon, former republican senator chuck hagel, came under fire from members of his own party during a very contentious confirmation hearing. >> name one person in your opinion who's intim nated by the israeli lobby in the united states senate. >> are we right or wrong? that's a pretty straightforward question. >> senator hagel, please answer the question i asked. today, do you think unilateral sanctions would be a bad idea? >> all this raising questions about how effective chuck hagel will be if confirmed as secretary of defense. earlier this weekend, i sat down for a rare joint interview with the top military leadership issue the outgoing secretary of defense leon panetta and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general martin dempsey. >>> secretary panetta, welcome back to "meet the press." general dempsey, welcome. let me start with the man that is poised to take your place. he underwent on thursday a pretty tough round of questioning. he seemed to struggle with a lot of the answers.
want to start with a washington battle on full display this week when the president's pick to head the pentagon, former republican senator chuck hagel, came under fire from members of his own party during a very contentious confirmation hearing. >> name one person in your opinion who's intim nated by the israeli lobby in the united states senate. >> are we right or wrong? that's a pretty straightforward question. >> senator hagel, please answer the question i asked. today, do...
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Feb 3, 2013
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joining me now, a member of the bush pentagon's defense policy board, michael hastings author of the new digital book "panic 2012, the sublime and terrifying inside story of obama's final campaign ♪ ♪ barbara siegel, also washington correspondent for the middle east website al monitor.com. great to have you all here. >> thank you. >> so i am -- well, where to start? i think the lessons unlearned to me was the most troubling. it seemed to me we had a moment in 2008 particularly in which president obama articulated this kind of alternative foreign policy vision and did so quite forthrightly. for instance, negotiations with iran and ahmadinejad. and somehow four years later, we've moved backwards, right? the old -- i guess as we've gotten further away from the debacle of iraq, as that's more remote in people's memory, there's more and more the sense of iraq ended up okay and you saw this -- i thought it was so interesting, it was the relitigation of the surge. because that in some ways is this key narrative plot point that somehow redeem tess entire war. and so you saw, for instance
joining me now, a member of the bush pentagon's defense policy board, michael hastings author of the new digital book "panic 2012, the sublime and terrifying inside story of obama's final campaign ♪ ♪ barbara siegel, also washington correspondent for the middle east website al monitor.com. great to have you all here. >> thank you. >> so i am -- well, where to start? i think the lessons unlearned to me was the most troubling. it seemed to me we had a moment in 2008...
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that this sequester is -- because of its sort of blunder bust approach that it does not permit the pentagon to make intelligent choices about what is needed, so it is going to get to readiness. ready city council what we need. >> this is the absurdness of washington. >> the white house proposed th-- >> proposing to get agreement on this. now the new strategy is, yeah, but you can't let that sequester happen because the spending cuts would be so awful when, in fact, there are democrats like dick durbin who will be on the program sunday who have said he doesn't really have a problem with the amount of spending cuts in the pentagon. it's a matter of how you go about doing it. republicans i think also have some leverage here by saying, you know, if you really get us down to it, if have to swallow these spending cuts, we're going take them because that might be good. you got your revenues there. zoolt sequester, we don't like it, but before it on. >> there's a lot of pain. particularly if are you from virginia and you have military cuts coming down your way, this is tough. spending cuts are toug
that this sequester is -- because of its sort of blunder bust approach that it does not permit the pentagon to make intelligent choices about what is needed, so it is going to get to readiness. ready city council what we need. >> this is the absurdness of washington. >> the white house proposed th-- >> proposing to get agreement on this. now the new strategy is, yeah, but you can't let that sequester happen because the spending cuts would be so awful when, in fact, there are...
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Feb 18, 2013
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then, but all the reasons listed for chuck hagel, none has to do with any pending issues before the pentagon. it has to do with he's been mean to president bush. he's been mean to john mccain. this process has said more about republicans than quite franklin it has said about chuck -- >> what about this issue of him -- is he going to be in charge of the pentagon? >> i think that is going to be the test for chuck hagel when he is sworn in fairly quickly and fairly soon as the next defense secretary. and i think there's no doubt he's going to go into that building and he'll take strong command of it. and that's what is going to be remembered. >> that is the toughest job in washington for the best and most qualified person and this process has weakened him, and his personality is probably not suited for this job. i can assure you of one thing. robert gibbs is going to be very happy he's not standing at that press podium the first time chuck hagel opines about the president's foreign policy and their disagreements on it. >> i can tell you there were a lot of reporters that were answering to be on
then, but all the reasons listed for chuck hagel, none has to do with any pending issues before the pentagon. it has to do with he's been mean to president bush. he's been mean to john mccain. this process has said more about republicans than quite franklin it has said about chuck -- >> what about this issue of him -- is he going to be in charge of the pentagon? >> i think that is going to be the test for chuck hagel when he is sworn in fairly quickly and fairly soon as the next...
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Feb 7, 2013
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the pentagon's top brass pushed back on questions about the military response in benghazi. >> are you surprised that the president of the united states never called you secretary panetta, and says how is it going? >> you know, normally in these situations -- >> did he know the level of threat that -- >> let me finish the answer. we were deploying the forces. he knew we were deploying the forces. he was being kept -- >> i hate to intript you, but i have limited time. we didn't deploy any forces. >> it was over by the time -- >> mr. secretary, you didn't know how long the attack would last. did you ever call him and say, mr. president, it looks like we don't have anything to get there any time soon? >> the event was over before -- >> it lasted almost eight hours, and my question to you is during that eight-hour period did the president show any curiosity about how is this going, what kind of assets do you have helping these people? did he ever make that phone call? >> look, there is no question in my mind the president of the united states was concerned about american lives. >> well, al
the pentagon's top brass pushed back on questions about the military response in benghazi. >> are you surprised that the president of the united states never called you secretary panetta, and says how is it going? >> you know, normally in these situations -- >> did he know the level of threat that -- >> let me finish the answer. we were deploying the forces. he knew we were deploying the forces. he was being kept -- >> i hate to intript you, but i have limited...
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did he seem competent to run the pentagon? there were a lot of questions even among democrats after that hearing whether he's ready. >> i don't disagree with that. i think hagel had a really poor performance. what i'm saying is for these senators -- if you looked at what ted cruz was asking about, association with an israeli diplomat that basically 99.9% of the country has never heard of, what was the point of that? he ended up actually stepping on hagel's bad day by taking some of the spotlight away from him. >> let's go after some of the questioning, because i disagree with you and i agree with you. >> not surprised about that. >> what? >> i said i'm not surprised you agree. >> was that sarcasm? let's talk about lindsey graham. when you ask a guy who had already recanted his argument about the power of the israeli lobby, obviously enormously influential lobby like the nra, heavily funded, heavily activated, strong people with strong minds, everybody knows they're influential, that's why they're there. to say which senator do
did he seem competent to run the pentagon? there were a lot of questions even among democrats after that hearing whether he's ready. >> i don't disagree with that. i think hagel had a really poor performance. what i'm saying is for these senators -- if you looked at what ted cruz was asking about, association with an israeli diplomat that basically 99.9% of the country has never heard of, what was the point of that? he ended up actually stepping on hagel's bad day by taking some of the...
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we have the chief correspondent and jim, what are you hearing at pentagon? >> u.s. intelligence officials knew it was coming although they didn't know the exact timing. this one set off alarm bells, particularly because of the size of the blast. we are not relying on cl ing oi here. they said it was somewhere about 6 or 7 kilotons that could make it from to six times more powerful than a previous weapon. they did claim they did this with a much smaller warhead which would indicate perhaps it's making progress that could be put on the top of a missile that could be launched against the u.s. quite frankly that's impossible to prove. within minutes it seemed after the blast was reported, the white house responded and president obama called it a highly provocative act that undermines stability and threatens u.s. national security and the president said it demands swift and credible action by the international community, but everything comes to a halt. north korea is sanctioned out at this point and unless china decides to cutoff oil supplies and other goods to north kor
we have the chief correspondent and jim, what are you hearing at pentagon? >> u.s. intelligence officials knew it was coming although they didn't know the exact timing. this one set off alarm bells, particularly because of the size of the blast. we are not relying on cl ing oi here. they said it was somewhere about 6 or 7 kilotons that could make it from to six times more powerful than a previous weapon. they did claim they did this with a much smaller warhead which would indicate perhaps...
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was he calling the pentagon? who was in charge? something that they could have asked in another context. they did get a letter from the white house lawyer yesterday which responded at least to that question. but it's benghazi. it's ted cruz raising the speeches and throwing out suggestions completely unsupported by fact that, what if he took money from north korea? from iran? none of that happened. but it was out there to the point where john mccain came to his defense. so as this keeps going, there's a drip, drip, drip. they'll keep finding another speech that they can take. and my concern i think from the administration's perspective also is that you're not going to get a final vote because they'll keep bringing up some other thing. and this thing -- he keeps getting weaker over the recess. >> okay. we've got other news to cover, joe. the nra is back in the news. wayne lapierre called the president a hypocrite. i'll hold off on that one. because i want to get to elizabeth warren. i don't know if you guys saw this. did you see thi
was he calling the pentagon? who was in charge? something that they could have asked in another context. they did get a letter from the white house lawyer yesterday which responded at least to that question. but it's benghazi. it's ted cruz raising the speeches and throwing out suggestions completely unsupported by fact that, what if he took money from north korea? from iran? none of that happened. but it was out there to the point where john mccain came to his defense. so as this keeps going,...
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Feb 26, 2013
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apparently they're happy to take the whacks at the pentagon in the interest of cutting spending overall. who would have expected this? apparently the president didn't. and can the republicans get away with it? >>> republicans in two key states are up to something now. they're not giving up on schemes to rejigger the electoral college. they're out to help their candidates next time. republicans figure if they can't win in the system, they're just out to change it. they're flagrant about it. >>> last, the oscars is about all of us. america is back in a winning mood. >>> finally, in case you didn't realize it, michelle obama has got moves. ♪ that cross dresser there on the left, of course, is jimmy fallon. the first lady's evolution of mom dancing with jimmy fallon. that's tonight in the "sideshow." and this is "hardball," the place for politics. >>> another scandal in the roman catholic church. cardinal keith o'brien, the highest ranking church official in great britain, has been accused of improper conduct with priests. cardinal o'brien, who is retiring this year, says he will skip the
apparently they're happy to take the whacks at the pentagon in the interest of cutting spending overall. who would have expected this? apparently the president didn't. and can the republicans get away with it? >>> republicans in two key states are up to something now. they're not giving up on schemes to rejigger the electoral college. they're out to help their candidates next time. republicans figure if they can't win in the system, they're just out to change it. they're flagrant about...
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Feb 4, 2013
02/13
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the political swagger, if you will, that secretary of defense immediate to both operate inside the pentagon, and that's -- you heard robert gibbs, former press secretary yesterday say it was a little disconcerting watching him give those answers. they made a strategic decision not to have a debate with those republican senators. trying to not start fights, but was he too passive? >> there was a way to push back. david sanger, he could have said i disagree with you about the surge. senator mccain, you're my great friend, but let's talk about what's really going on. we have 66,000 troops at afghanistan right now. he didn't pivot. he didn't push back. he didn't fight. david brooks, your columnist in "the "new york times"" suggested to chuck this weekend that he should even go so far as saying to the president, mr. president, do you have second thoughts? should i withdraw? that's rather more than i would have expected at this point. >> you know, i think there were two remarkable elements to the testimony that former senator hagel gave. he seemed unprepared on basic issues. we were discussing ir
the political swagger, if you will, that secretary of defense immediate to both operate inside the pentagon, and that's -- you heard robert gibbs, former press secretary yesterday say it was a little disconcerting watching him give those answers. they made a strategic decision not to have a debate with those republican senators. trying to not start fights, but was he too passive? >> there was a way to push back. david sanger, he could have said i disagree with you about the surge. senator...
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Feb 6, 2013
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the pentagon also making changes to its policy on same-sex spouses. the military will extend some benefits to those couples. leon panetta has not made a final decision on which benefits will be included, possibly health and welfare programs. an announcement is expected in the next few days that will clear that up. >>> straight ahead, targeting u.s. terrorists. just how effective are those military drone strikes? general barry mccafferty is going to weigh in. a change for monopoly and some may call it the cat's meow. so i used my citi thankyou card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? and with all the points i've been earning, i was able to get us a flight to our favorite climbing spot even on a holiday weekend. ♪ things are definitely looking up. [ male announcer ] with no blackout dates, you can use your citi thankyou points to travel whenever you want. visit citi.com/thankyoucards to apply. to travel whenever you want. all stations come over to mithis is for real this time. step seven point t
the pentagon also making changes to its policy on same-sex spouses. the military will extend some benefits to those couples. leon panetta has not made a final decision on which benefits will be included, possibly health and welfare programs. an announcement is expected in the next few days that will clear that up. >>> straight ahead, targeting u.s. terrorists. just how effective are those military drone strikes? general barry mccafferty is going to weigh in. a change for monopoly and...
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Feb 22, 2013
02/13
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the pentagon has stopped the upgrade indefinitely. because of next week's catastrophic budget cuts, that republicans refuse to stop on tuesday, president obama will head to that navy yard, navy shipyard. after republicans have their hypocrisy. the gop for this disaster in the making, and cuts that will start next friday will hurt our recovery and cost up to 700 thousand jobs. >> it has become clear that the cuts would have an adverse impact on families, on teachers, and parents who rely on head start programs. on our military readiness. on mental health services. on medical research. this is not smart way for us to reduce the deficit. >> not smart? >> the president was just being gracious. these cuts are crazy. not republicans are not letting them happen. especially to protect the rich. the american people don't want any of these cuts that are about to kick in next friday. 80% of spending cuts on education, just 10% want the cut. 83% oppose spending cuts for food and drug inspections. just 14% want them. and 81% oppose spending cuts f
the pentagon has stopped the upgrade indefinitely. because of next week's catastrophic budget cuts, that republicans refuse to stop on tuesday, president obama will head to that navy yard, navy shipyard. after republicans have their hypocrisy. the gop for this disaster in the making, and cuts that will start next friday will hurt our recovery and cost up to 700 thousand jobs. >> it has become clear that the cuts would have an adverse impact on families, on teachers, and parents who rely...
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Feb 23, 2013
02/13
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the headline news out of brussels today was a very terse statement from the pentagon spokesman. it was kind of strange. he was essentially clarifying, hey, whatever you heard from the germans earlier today, that was not true. this is the statement. the reports that the u.s. told allies that we are considering 8,000 to 12,000 u.s. troops after 2014 are not correct. a range of 8,000 to 12,000 troops was discussed, but it was discussed as the possible size of the overall nato mission, not the u.s. contribution. ah, important clarification. so the defense minister from germany had apparently told reporters that 8 to 12,000 troops was how many troops america was going to keep in afghanistan. everybody thought that was very big news since that's not what we heard hear at home at all. maybe that is how the german guy understood it, but it is apparently not the way that leon panetta meant it. that was the headline out of brussels today. those troops, that's nato combined, that's not just us. that was the headline. the other news of course was that representing the united states and appa
the headline news out of brussels today was a very terse statement from the pentagon spokesman. it was kind of strange. he was essentially clarifying, hey, whatever you heard from the germans earlier today, that was not true. this is the statement. the reports that the u.s. told allies that we are considering 8,000 to 12,000 u.s. troops after 2014 are not correct. a range of 8,000 to 12,000 troops was discussed, but it was discussed as the possible size of the overall nato mission, not the u.s....
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Feb 25, 2013
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apparently they're happy to take the whacks at the pentagon in the interest of cutting spending overall. who would have expected this? apparently the president didn't. and can the republicans get away with it? republicans in two key states are up to something now they're not giving up on schemes to rejigger the electoral college. they're out to help their candidates next time. republicans figure if they can't win in the system they're just out to change it. they're flag grant about it. >>> last in the os carries is about all of us. america is back in a winning mood. >>> finally in case you didn't realize it, michelle obama has got moves. ♪ that cross dresser there on the left of course is jimmy fallon. the first lady's evolution of mom dancing with jimmy fallon. that's tonight in the "sideshow." and this is "hardball," the place for politics. and every day since, we've worked hard to keep it. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy. we've shared what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. bp's also committed to america. we support nearly two-hundre
apparently they're happy to take the whacks at the pentagon in the interest of cutting spending overall. who would have expected this? apparently the president didn't. and can the republicans get away with it? republicans in two key states are up to something now they're not giving up on schemes to rejigger the electoral college. they're out to help their candidates next time. republicans figure if they can't win in the system they're just out to change it. they're flag grant about it....
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Feb 7, 2013
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not a lot of republicans would agree with that because the sequester would hurt the pentagon. that's why they're talking about the d.c. area. >> can you raise my hand and say i'm one republican that would agree with that? we've got to cut defense spending. >> we have to. >> we've got to, and we've got to cut spending. >> willy-nilly, though. so the sequester is willy-nilly, isn't it? you wouldn't want to cut having the sequester do it? >> didn't congress make the sequester? >> that was a carrot and stick situation. the sequester is the stick. >> the problem is you can't get the president of the united states to put alternative cuts on the board. he'll talk in generalities. and the republicans and the democrats don't trust each other. so yes, i don't like the ad hoc approach, but given the choice between an ad hoc approach and no approach at all with trillion-dollar deficits every year, i choose cuts. but let's talk about this. how badly do you think it will hurt the economy? you think "the wall street journal's" underselling it? >> i do think they're underselling it. first, ha
not a lot of republicans would agree with that because the sequester would hurt the pentagon. that's why they're talking about the d.c. area. >> can you raise my hand and say i'm one republican that would agree with that? we've got to cut defense spending. >> we have to. >> we've got to, and we've got to cut spending. >> willy-nilly, though. so the sequester is willy-nilly, isn't it? you wouldn't want to cut having the sequester do it? >> didn't congress make the...
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Feb 8, 2013
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expect that he could return home, and i'll admit that when we first asked him to stay on and lead the pentagon, his answer was simple. no. but i kept asking. i am persistent. that's how michelle married me. i just kept at it, and it is a testament to leon's patriotism, to his sense of duty that he agreed to serve on this one last tour. and perhaps it was the memory during world war ii of his parents opening up their homes to gis headed for the pacific. perhaps it was because leon served himself as a young lieutenant in the army. perhaps it was the experience of watching his youngest son deploy to afghanistan. what we do know is this, as our nation's 23rd secretary of defense, every action leon panetta has taken, every decision that he has made, has been with one goal in mind -- taking care of our sons and our daughters in uniform and keeping america safe. and just think of the progress under his watch. because we ended the war in iraq and are winding down the war in afghanistan, our troops are coming home, and next year our war in afghanistan will come to an end. we've put the core of al qaeda
expect that he could return home, and i'll admit that when we first asked him to stay on and lead the pentagon, his answer was simple. no. but i kept asking. i am persistent. that's how michelle married me. i just kept at it, and it is a testament to leon's patriotism, to his sense of duty that he agreed to serve on this one last tour. and perhaps it was the memory during world war ii of his parents opening up their homes to gis headed for the pacific. perhaps it was because leon served himself...
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Feb 21, 2013
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and people need to remember we don't make anything in the pentagon. the reason that our military is the greatest in the world is first of all our people, but secondly the weapons systems that we have. and industry makes them for us. and that industry and its people are essential to national defense. so all of these folks are going to be affected at each other installation around the country. >> harold. >> good morning. you talk about a reduction in training programs and republicans programs. can you give us specifics, and before you do, fort campbell's in tennessee. give us a specific example because i think it's easy for us to listen, i believe you, but just for the american people and those watching to understand what you mean specifically. >> sure. let me give you a few examples, and by the way, i know that fort campbell straddles the borrowed and there's a rivally there. got it. in all seriousness, specific examples, i mentioned furlough, so how does that affect real people? we're going to have to take a fifth of their paycheck away from them in t
and people need to remember we don't make anything in the pentagon. the reason that our military is the greatest in the world is first of all our people, but secondly the weapons systems that we have. and industry makes them for us. and that industry and its people are essential to national defense. so all of these folks are going to be affected at each other installation around the country. >> harold. >> good morning. you talk about a reduction in training programs and republicans...
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Feb 18, 2013
02/13
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fill some of those cuts april or may or down the road, could dump them a little bit more money to the pentagon and try to offset some of the damages. right now we really don't know, and there's really no one that has proposed anything that could pass both chambers at this point. >> jake sherman, thank you very much. good to see you. >> with our politico briefing. coming up next, to the vatican. s will the vatican now fast track the election of the new pope? we're live in rome next. ann thompson coming up right here on "andrea mitchell reports." [ male announcer ] here's a word you should keep in mind. unbiased. some brokerage firms are. but way too many aren't. why? because selling their funds makes them more money. which makes you wonder -- isn't that a conflict? search "proprietary mutual funds." yikes! then go to e-trade. we've got over 8,000 mutual funds, and not one of them has our name on it. we're in the business of finding the right investments for you. e-trade. less for us. more for you. the fund's prospectus contains its investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other impo
fill some of those cuts april or may or down the road, could dump them a little bit more money to the pentagon and try to offset some of the damages. right now we really don't know, and there's really no one that has proposed anything that could pass both chambers at this point. >> jake sherman, thank you very much. good to see you. >> with our politico briefing. coming up next, to the vatican. s will the vatican now fast track the election of the new pope? we're live in rome next....
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Feb 2, 2013
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is the right man to take over at the pentagon. we will ask two highly decorated veterans. >>> and later on, the super bowl weekend, we will get the brain trust's take on who will take home the vince lombardi trophy down in the big easy. first, this unique image of president bomb, this photo released of the president skeet shooting at camp david last summer. the president's mention of the skeet shooting experience in a magazine created skepticism, and the nra has responded to the photo saying that one picture does not erase a lifetime of supporting every gun ban and every gun control scheme imaginable los angeles may, antonio vieira goes a. the mayor saying friday that he will finish out his term as mayor. and barney, that beloved scottish terrier of president bush died after a battle with cancer. barney was a faithful friend and will be much missed. barney was 12-1/2 years old. >>> well she was a former first lady. a former senator from new york and now hillary clinton is a former secretary of state after visiting 112 countries an
is the right man to take over at the pentagon. we will ask two highly decorated veterans. >>> and later on, the super bowl weekend, we will get the brain trust's take on who will take home the vince lombardi trophy down in the big easy. first, this unique image of president bomb, this photo released of the president skeet shooting at camp david last summer. the president's mention of the skeet shooting experience in a magazine created skepticism, and the nra has responded to the photo...
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Feb 4, 2013
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nbc news chief pentagon correspondent jim maiklaszewski joins us now. what do we know? >> it's a tragic story in so many ways. this marine corps reservist, a 25-year-old by the name of eddie ray routh, is in custody facing two capital murder charges in the deaths of that former navy s.e.a.l. sniper, chris kyle, and a friend. but the police still cannot pinpoint a motive. now, friends say that it appeared that routh was suffering ptsd, post-traumatic stress, from his service in iraq, and kyle has a record of working directly with ptsd victims from the wars in iraq and afghanistan, and trying to help them. now, according to reports, this was the first time that kyle and his friend had ever met with routh and they were at a gun range about 50 miles outside of ft. worth saturday when suddenly without warning, routh allegedly pulled a hand gun and shot and killed both of the other men at point-blank range. he's in custody and there is reports that he had to be tasered in his cell overnight for some kind of disruption there in the texas jail, but the search is on for a motive
nbc news chief pentagon correspondent jim maiklaszewski joins us now. what do we know? >> it's a tragic story in so many ways. this marine corps reservist, a 25-year-old by the name of eddie ray routh, is in custody facing two capital murder charges in the deaths of that former navy s.e.a.l. sniper, chris kyle, and a friend. but the police still cannot pinpoint a motive. now, friends say that it appeared that routh was suffering ptsd, post-traumatic stress, from his service in iraq, and...
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Feb 1, 2013
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the white house is still confident they'll have enough votes to make it -- to get hagel to the pentagon, but let's be honest, it's been ugly so far. >>> and the country says good-bye to one of its most outspoken and color mayors, ed koch, likes to say how am i doing, history would say he's done a pretty good job of leading new york into a new era. >>> good morning from washington, it's friday, february 1st, 2013. let's get to the first read of the morning. i'll get to the jobs report in a minute, but i want to get to hagel. i want to start there. no doubt chuck hagel had a rough outing before the armed services committee, the question is whether hostility to hagel's nomination breaks down so completely along partisan lines. that he's still able to survive. there's clearly a lot of republican opposition to hagel, some of it may be personal. the white house for now is chalking up the eight painful hours to political theatrics and believe these republican senators were simply tougher on hagel than they were on john kerry or on john brennan because they view hagel as a turncoat, but, wow, d
the white house is still confident they'll have enough votes to make it -- to get hagel to the pentagon, but let's be honest, it's been ugly so far. >>> and the country says good-bye to one of its most outspoken and color mayors, ed koch, likes to say how am i doing, history would say he's done a pretty good job of leading new york into a new era. >>> good morning from washington, it's friday, february 1st, 2013. let's get to the first read of the morning. i'll get to the jobs...
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Feb 22, 2013
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national defense, you know, he's running around sounding like donald rumsfeld trying to defend the pentagon. like don't cut a single thing, but i'm going to go out, i'm going to keep talking about rich americans. i'm going to keep talking about corporations. i'm going to play to my base instead of talking -- telling middle-class americans they're going to have to make some sacrifices. along with the rich. it's that mika, it's a permanent campaign. and i guess if this is how he wants to run things, he's president of the united states, good luck over the next 3 1/2 years. >> i don't understand why loopholes are even an argument, first of all, why he has to go this far. why he has to keep talking about it. >> hold on a second. >> i know. >> we all agree that these loopholes need to be closed. >> well, let's do it. why is it so hard? >> i've been talking about supporting warren buffett's idea. >> why are we still talking about it? >> because the president only uses it to demagogue in a permanent campaign. he never talks about the other side of it. he always says oh, it's the rich. >> that would
national defense, you know, he's running around sounding like donald rumsfeld trying to defend the pentagon. like don't cut a single thing, but i'm going to go out, i'm going to keep talking about rich americans. i'm going to keep talking about corporations. i'm going to play to my base instead of talking -- telling middle-class americans they're going to have to make some sacrifices. along with the rich. it's that mika, it's a permanent campaign. and i guess if this is how he wants to run...
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Feb 9, 2013
02/13
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the impact is going to be fairly dramatic to some of the employees, civilian employees of the pentagon and some other places. the 85 billion in cuts is through the rest of the fiscal year through september 30th and we're not even talking a full year. it's 50/50 between the defense cuts and the discretionary am doestic spending cuts and the warnings that we're hearing from experts on national security are very severe and vehement. they have told us that this will be a very significant damage. >> let's put the list up here, alex. the white house put out this fact sheet yesterday on the most damaging effects of the cuts that are supposed to go into effect march 1st. 17,000 education jobs at risk. 70,000 kids being kicked off head start. nearly 400,000 mentally ill patients not receiving health care and small business loan guarantees being cut up to $540 million, roughly. the white house did not mention the massive military cuts. what was the strategy there? >> well, look. i think that for the white house, the strategy here is to emphasize that basically every american would be impacted in
the impact is going to be fairly dramatic to some of the employees, civilian employees of the pentagon and some other places. the 85 billion in cuts is through the rest of the fiscal year through september 30th and we're not even talking a full year. it's 50/50 between the defense cuts and the discretionary am doestic spending cuts and the warnings that we're hearing from experts on national security are very severe and vehement. they have told us that this will be a very significant damage....
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Feb 17, 2013
02/13
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two veterans of capitol hill may be about to change their tune on the president's pick to head up the pentagon. we will talk to bob carey about what all of that means. >> mr. president, we will stand and fight throughout this country as americans for our freedom. >> the gun rights groups say they are working to protect the second amendment so we are going to take a look at what rights the second amendment affords and which it does not. we start with developing news in florida where the white house confirmed that president obama teed off with golfing great tiger woods today. woods lives about an hour and a half from where president obama is vacationing. they will be on the course for several more hours of course. joining us on the course is tim rosaforte. you are at the resort with the president. what more can you tell us? >> the floridaen golf and react club in palm city, florida is where they played their round of golf. the president is visiting here through some friends of his in houston. he was introduced to the golf course and as a result of that has decided to take a golf buddies trip mor
two veterans of capitol hill may be about to change their tune on the president's pick to head up the pentagon. we will talk to bob carey about what all of that means. >> mr. president, we will stand and fight throughout this country as americans for our freedom. >> the gun rights groups say they are working to protect the second amendment so we are going to take a look at what rights the second amendment affords and which it does not. we start with developing news in florida where...
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Feb 8, 2013
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you have to do all the sequester in a hurry, then yes, it's a real problem because it doesn't let the pentagon begin to plan and distribute, if you will, the cuts. but at the end of the day, whether it's defense spending, education spending, health spending, what always matters more than how much you spend is how you spend it. and so i'm not, at the end of the day, all that worried about how much we spend, whether it's on defense or anything else. you just want to have the time to make some intelligent cuts rather than have to make them literally in a matter of days which would probably mean that readiness more than anything else would be cut out of the defense department account. and that's probably the one thing you don't want cut out of it. >> sam stein, you're close and yet so far away over there at the jump seat. what are the odds that the sequester actually takes place? we know the president's proposed something to push them back a while. are we going to see these kind of cuts, the ones that were outlined in the sequester proposal? >> i think the odds are pretty high, to be hone. i don't
you have to do all the sequester in a hurry, then yes, it's a real problem because it doesn't let the pentagon begin to plan and distribute, if you will, the cuts. but at the end of the day, whether it's defense spending, education spending, health spending, what always matters more than how much you spend is how you spend it. and so i'm not, at the end of the day, all that worried about how much we spend, whether it's on defense or anything else. you just want to have the time to make some...
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Feb 20, 2013
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they're betting they'll blame the president for lost funding in federal programs and the pentagon over ten years, should the sequestration take place. house speaker john boehner said, quote, today the president advanced an argument republicans have been making for a year. his sequester is the wrong way to cut spending. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell insisted "more than three months after the november election, president obama still prefers campaign events to common sense, bipartisan action." and joining us now for more on this from washington, the former chief economist of the international monetary fund and bloomberg view columnist, simon johnson. he's the co-author of "white house burning: our national debt and why it matters to you," now out in paperback. simon, good to see you this morning. >> nice to be with you. >> simon, if you could help us through this over the next week or so, it doesn't look like there's a path to avoiding the sequestration if you listen to the two sides. so how damaging would this be? because we've heard a couple different versions of it that would
they're betting they'll blame the president for lost funding in federal programs and the pentagon over ten years, should the sequestration take place. house speaker john boehner said, quote, today the president advanced an argument republicans have been making for a year. his sequester is the wrong way to cut spending. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell insisted "more than three months after the november election, president obama still prefers campaign events to common sense,...